Going to the gym is not fun for me. Every push, pull, and rotate is drudgery. Thankfully, I tend to be on the lean side; fat isn’t a concern. I want to increase my muscle mass for playing games and for my long-term health. For me to do this, I am more successful when it happens as a by-product of daily activities or games. Ten years ago, I had a pull-up bar in the door frame of my office at Microsoft. Almost every time I passed through the door, I would do a pull up. People visiting me in my office, or passing by, would do the same. It worked and I got stronger until I moved offices. The new office building had lower and metal door frames; I couldn’t install the bar.

Segway to my new flat. It has a 140cm x 275cm opening between two rooms. This is perfect for a generous pull-up bar. I searched online for a pre-made pull-up bar after learning the word for it is Klimmzugstange.

• “Klimm” is from “klimmen” which means to clamber or scramble on.
• “Zug” is a train. Often the word shows up as part of other German words like “Aufzug” (elevator) and another form of it appears in “Flugzeug” (airplane). For me, the word “zug” tends to mean a thing that provides conveyance.
• “Stange” is a rod, bar, or pole.
• Therefore, a literal translation would be: a clamber-on conveyance rod. Awesome!
• And a bonus: “geistige Klimmzüge” can be used to convey “mental gymnastics”; like saying, “My physics class is nothing but geistige Klimmzüge.”

I discovered that longest pre-made bars are 1m. No good and no problem. I have power tools…I can make one. I used 17mm plywood (Sperrholz), 1-1/4″ steel pipe (strangely the pipe standard is in inches in Deutschland), 8mm lag bolts, Dübels, and glue. Kleber is the word for glue and I remember it by…it clings (sounds like Kle-) things together. I also had to buy a new wood/electricity finder; mine died. Total cost is now over 100€, but I get to build and use power tools. Grunt…grunt.

I cut the plywood into four pieces and glued them together in pairs to make it 3.5cm thick. Used my jigsaw (Stichsäge) to cut out three curved slots for the pipe in the plywood; impact drill for the bolt holes in the plywood and placing the Dübels in the wall; hacksaw to cut the pipe; and a metal file to smooth the pipes edges.

• Stich is German for “stitch”, it is missing only the t.
• Säge is saw.
• Which makes the perfect word “Stichsäge” for a jigsaw because the jigsaw’s blade goes quickly up and down just like the needle on a sewing machine making a stitch. More awesomeness! And sadness…I miss my Singer sewing machine; it was 120v.

Success? Yes. I have used my new Klimmzugstange many times today as I walk through the corridor. It can hold two people at the same time in width and weight. And, I can adjust the height of the bar to three locations; the highest allows me to hang without my toes touching the floor. No cheating!